Mushers, race fans, Iditarod Staff, teachers attending summer camp, and hordes of volunteers gathered at Iditarod Headquarters on the last Saturday of June to witness the beginning of the 44th Iditarod.  Just a bit before 9:30 when signup officially opened, mushers began rolling in with cash, check or credit card in hand, toting the abundance of paperwork required for sign up.

Burmeister brothers, Aaron and Noah, were the first in line for musher signup.  At the 2015 Finisher’s Banquet in Nome, Aaron announced that he’d be spending time with his family while Noah would make the run to Nome in 2016.  The younger Burmeister has been working with Aaron training the Alaskan Wildstyle Racing Team.  These guys have a long family history in mushing and Iditarod.  Their father, Richard, ran Iditarod in ’79 and ’82, finishing in 22 days and a few hours both years.  Aaron has run Iditarod 16 times since 1994.  Finishing every race, Aaron has scored four top ten finishes and has been selected by fellow mushers for the Sportsmanship award and Mushers Choice Award.  In 2016, Noah will be making his 3rd journey to Nome.  His previous runs to Nome were in ’04 and ’06, finishing in 12 days and a few hours both times.  Noah is excited to work with the team that finished 3rd in Iditarod XLIII.  With ten years since his last run, Noah is excited about the many new innovations in gear, equipment, strategy and food.  A few years back, Aaron and Noah participated in the Junior Iditarod.  They’ve earned the Junior Iditarod Sportsmanship and Humanitarian awards respectively.

After the first musher breaks the ice for sign up, there’s a steady stream of mushers that make their way to the yellow tent where volunteers collect paper work and entry fees.  Noah was followed by Rick Casillo, who purposely stood off to the side because he didn’t want to be first through the line.  Sixty-two entries were accounted for on the first day of signup.  Thirty-seven were present and twenty-five arrived by mail.  Since the picnic, three more entries have been received for a total of sixty-five.  

Included in the list of fifty-four veterans currently signed up are champions Martin Buser (4), Jeff King (4), Dallas Seavey (3) and with two championships each, Mitch Seavey and Robert Sorlie.  Add that up, it’s fifteen years of championships between the five men.  Noticeably missing from the 2016 roster at this point are former champions, Lance Mackey and John Baker and top ten finishers from 2015, Aaron Burmeister and Ken Anderson.  Signups close at the end of business on December 1st.  The list of entrants and the order by which they’ll select their start positions are listed on the Iditarod website.

It’s really an entirely different experience for a a rookie signing up compared to a veteran.  Consider the trio of Martin Buser, Rohn Buser and DeeDee Jonrowe, all “experienced” veterans.  Collectively they’ve signed up for 70 runnings of the Last Great Race.  Rookie Kristin Bacon came to Iditarod through volunteering  as one of the Skwentna Sweeties where she met Ryan Redington and later acquired her first sled dog(s), a female named Libby and her eight pups.  Quoting from baconsacres.com, here’s Kristin’s take on signing up, “My eyes widened as I began printing out all the required forms:  Rookie Reference Sheet signed by a seasoned Iditarod finisher; Application with biography, mushing history, photograph, etc; Liability Release; Anchorage and Nome Housing Request Forms; List of Sponsors; Musher Membership Form; Banquet Ticket Form for March’s start banquet; Dog Care Agreement for vet care during the race; Two Local Contact Forms for Dropped Dogs; Iditarod Trail Questionnaire;  previously completed Musher Assessment Form/”Report Card” for 3 qualifying races totaling 750 miles… oh, and a $3000 entry fee.  Why is taking one step closer to a dream such a mix of emotions?”   

Of the eleven rookies for 2016, Noah Periera, age 19 from New York, is the youngest.  Noah took his first ride on the runners in 2009.  He’s trained in Alaska for the past three winters, capturing the Junior Iditarod Championship in 2013.  Since then he’s built his team, trained and completed his qualifiers.  His goal is to finish his first Iditarod with a healthy, happy dog team.  

The rookie class of 2016 hails from far and wide.  From the lower 48, Patrick Beall calls Oklahoma home and Noah Periera is from New York.  From foreign countries, Dag Olson resides in Hammerfest, Norway and Kim Franklin calls Herts, UK home.  The remaining seven rookies reside in Alaska.

The Redington family will be well represented in the 2016 Iditarod.  Not only will Ray Jr. be on the trail but he’ll be joined by his brothers, Ryan and Robert.  Parents Barb and Raymie Redington will have their hands and hearts full as they support their boys in their quest for Nome.  Robert is a rookie for 2016 while Ryan will be starting his ninth Iditarod and Ray Jr. will be starting his 15th Iditarod.  He’s had a run of top ten finishes spanning from 2011 to 2014.  Ryan has sat out Iditarod for the past few years in favor of sprint mushing.  Robert started mushing five years ago but said, “I’ve had a feeling I would run Iditarod ever since I was a kid.”  Race founder Joe Redington Sr. would be proud to see his three grandsons on the trail together and might be saying, “Since the day they were born, I had a feeling they’d all run the race.” 

Here’s some demographic information for the current 65 mushers enrolled in Iditarod XLIV.   Forty-six of the sixty-five current entrants are from the state of Alaska.  Other states represented are Alabama (Barnes), Idaho (Herbst), Illinois (Bejna), Michigan (Stielstra), Minnesota (Schroeder), Montana (Royer) and Oklahoma (Beall).  Countries other than the US represented include Canada (Cook, Campeau & Phillips), Sweden (Pettersson), New Zealand (Perrano), United Kingdom (Franklin) and Norway (Olson, Ulsom, Sorlie, Ekran & Albrigtsen).  Roughly one-third of all the mushers are female.  That figure includes five rookies and thirteen veterans.        

Not only does the annual Iditarod Picnic mark the first day for Iditarod sign up, it’s the first day Junior Iditarod contestants can sign up as well.  A couple of veterans officially entered the 150 mile two-day race.  Defending champion Kevin Harper devoured a mountain of excellent food provided by race sponsor, Golden Corral, then with cold cash and paperwork in hand, made his way to the registration table to enter his third Junior Iditarod.  Harper placed third in 2014 and was chosen by his peers to receive the sportsmanship award.  Harper captured the 2015 championship by two-minutes over Jimmy Lanier.  Veteran Dakota Schlosser has also entered Junior Iditarod.  Dakota was attending ground school so his parents came to do his paperwork and pay his entry fee.  Placing 4th in the 2015 Junior Iditarod, Schlosser earned scholarship monies from race sponsor Lynden.  Dakota has tapped into that fund to help pay for flight training.

Many thanks go out to the crew from the Golden Corral.  Once again, they provided a feast fit for kings, queens, princes and princesses.  Hungry mushers, volunteers, Iditarod staff and race fans loaded plates to full capacity with a variety of delicious pulled pork sandwiches, potato salads, coleslaw, other salads and desserts.

2015 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™, Erin Montgomery was on hand to “officially” pass the sleeping bag to the 2016 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ Laura Wright.  Montgomery, a middle school social studies teacher and coach from Camanche, Iowa followed the race from Fairbanks to Nome as the direct link between the trail and classrooms around the world.  Erin posted innovative lessons and maintained a a daily blog while on the trail.  Wright is a 4th grade teacher from Eanes Elementary School in Austin, Texas.  Laura says, “During the next year, I hope to provide my fellow educators around the world with innovative and creative ways to bring “The Last Great Race on Earth®” into the classroom to inspire and motivate students through real life projects.”  The sleeping bag has been used by the entire cadre of 17 previous teachers who have served on the trail.  Each teacher has created a patch for the sleeping bag.

As the afternoon and picnic wound down, the order for drawing for bib numbers was established.  The name of everyone registered is placed into a container.  As the names are drawn out, that’s the order they’ll draw a bib number from the mukluk at the Mushers Banquet in March. Drawings for a ladle, 12 bowls and 500 booties provided by Kipmik went to Joar Leifseth Ulsom, Justin Savidis and Martin Buser.  It’s the moment we’ve all waited for, time to draw for the two entry fees for Iditarod 2016.  You must be present to win!  Drum roll please……  The first musher to win her entry fee was Ellen Halverson.  Continue with the drum roll……  the second musher to win her entry fee was DeeDee Jonrowe.  Congratulations, ladies!

Usually the first chapter of an Iditarod is written on the day signups are first accepted, but perhaps the first chapter of the 2016 race was written a couple of weeks earlier when the Sockeye Fire broke out just a few miles north of the community of Willow.  Because of the excellent trails and normally good snow, Willow and the surrounding area is a mecca for mushers, both racing and recreational.  Fifty-five homes/cabins were destroyed by the fire along with outbuildings. On forty-four other properties, amazingly, and thanks to the efforts of firefighters, the homes survived. Hundreds of sled dogs were evacuated to safe zones.  At least 200 ended up at Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel while others took refuge on the Norris family property at Underdog Feeds and at  Houston High School.  Some of the homes that were destroyed belonged to mushers, others belonged to non-musher neighbors. 

Four Iditarod veterans who lost homes were on hand to signup for the 2016 race.  DeeDee Jonrowe has entered her 34th Iditarod.  Jan Steves, while signing up, thanked the friends who helped evacuate her dogs and save much of her mushing gear.  Steves said it’s sad to lose so much, especially all those things that can’t be replaced like the sleds fellow musher, kennel partner and Iditarod finisher Bob Chlupach has built over the years.  Mary Helwig, who recently purchased a home and kennel in Willow, said as she signed up, “Even though I’ve lost my home and nearly all my belongings, I’m determined to run my first Iditarod in 2016.”  Joar Leifseth Ulsom, another victim of the fire, was on hand to enter the upcoming race.  Jaimee HIgh had signed up for Iditarod 2015 but after losing their home to a fire last December withdrew from the race.  Jaimee and husband Justin had started to rebuild but once again fire, this time the Sockeye, turned the beginnings of their new home to ashes.  Jaimee, on hand at the picnic, said, “There won’t be an Iditarod this year, either.”  The devastation and destruction of the fire has been awful.  The resilience and determination of the Willow mushers is remarkable and inspiring.

Get to know the 2016 mushers.  Biographies and photos are available on the Iditarod website.  Don’t forget to go to the archives to see how the contestants of Iditarod XLIV have done in the past.